"How does Your Majesty know that what I said is not true?" Song Yaozhu said sarcastically.

Since Song Yaozhu dared to say such a thing, she must have had evidence. No matter how secretive the Northern Qing royal family was, heaven is watching what people do, and anyone with a will can find traces.

After Jin Tie died, the Beiqing royal family, fearing that their crimes would be exposed, purged all the servants in the palace.

She secretly rescued a royal physician who had diagnosed Jin Tie from her spies in Beiqing and raised him in Dachen. Even Yuwen Wuji was unaware of this.

After leaving the capital, Yu Gong personally went to see the imperial physician, who had already arrived in the capital and was hiding in a manor on the outskirts of the city.

"This is a matter for the Northern Qing, what does it have to do with you? You've only heard a few words and yet you're making things up; that's a crime of slandering the royal family!"

"What crime did I commit in the Great Chen Kingdom by slandering the Northern Qing royal family?"

Consort Shu was speechless after being rebuked, and only regretted that she hadn't read "The Law of the Great Chen Dynasty" properly.

"You are deliberately undermining diplomatic relations between our two countries!"

"Your Majesty, I merely mentioned an old matter. If Princess Tuoba cannot accept it, does that mean she is damaging diplomatic relations between our two countries? What about Princess Tuoba deliberately carrying a long whip in the Great Chen Palace and injuring the imperial concubines?"

Song Yaozhu was aggressive and confrontational.

Don't expect her to take the blame alone. If things escalate, they'll all be finished!

Upon hearing her words, Tuoba Hongyun looked annoyed but didn't know what to say.

She did try to whip someone, but she missed!

"I didn't hurt anyone!"

Before she could finish speaking, a noblewoman stepped forward, revealing her arm with red marks.

"This humble woman is injured." The noble lady was the same little girl who had previously teased Tuoba Hongyun.

"Hurry up and summon the imperial physician!" Consort Shu shouted sternly at the eunuch beside her, her fierce expression resembling that of a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"Princess Tuoba, you have injured people in my Great Chen Imperial Palace. Are you taking advantage of the kindness of the people of Great Chen?!"

Tuoba Hongyun stammered, unsure of what to say. If no one had been injured, she could have stubbornly insisted that Song Yaozhu had started the trouble. But now that someone was hurt, she was powerless.

Consort Shu, seeing that things were going well, said, "Princess Tuoba, you are a guest of our Great Chen. To put it bluntly, this is just a quarrel between young ladies. Let's not escalate it to the level of diplomatic relations between our two countries. How about we settle this matter here in the Imperial Garden?"

Looking at the wary faces in front of her, Tuoba Hongyun had the illusion that she wouldn't be able to leave the Imperial Garden if she didn't agree today.

She gritted her teeth and said, "Give the whip back to me, Princess!"

“That won’t do. The banquet hasn’t even started yet. What if the princess hurts someone with the whip again? I’ll keep the whip for you.” Song Wenyue said with a smile, her tone friendly, completely unlike her earlier teasing of Tuoba Hongyun.

Having suffered a loss in silence, Tuoba Hongyun angrily turned and ran out of the Imperial Garden.

After she left, her face, which had been contorted with anger, quickly calmed down.

Before she came, her father had told her that Yuwen Wuji was able to become the emperor of the Great Chen Dynasty thanks to the support of the Xie family. If she could cause a complete falling out between Yuwen Wuji and the Xie family, it would be much easier to attack the Great Chen Dynasty in the future.

They originally thought that the incompetent princess would be the breakthrough to deal with the Xie family, but they ended up running into a snag.

The Xie family is indeed not easy to deal with.

However, thinking back to her own plan, Tuoba Hongyun curled her lips into a smile.

As soon as Tuoba Hongyun left, Consort Shu's sharp gaze swept across Song Yaozhu's face.

"Your Highness, today is a state banquet. There are things that should be said and things that shouldn't be said. Do you understand?"

Song Yaozhu replied with a smile, "Your Majesty, don't worry. Although I am not well-educated, my sister is watching over me, so I will be careful."

Song Wenyue, who was standing to the side, wanted to grimac. Why was she dragged into this?

Consort Shu glanced at Song Wenyue and said coldly, "Sister, you failed to supervise properly just now. You will be fined three months' salary. Do you have any objections?"

Song Wenyue nodded, "My sister knows she was wrong."

As Consort Shu left, Song Wenyue glared at Song Yaozhu.

"You better behave yourself and stop dragging me down with you!"

Song Yaozhu gave her a "friendly" smile, thinking to herself that it was a pity the matter hadn't escalated. She decided to let the imperial physician return to Beiqing.

I just don't know how many people in Beiqing still have that General Jin Tie in their hearts.

She had only strolled around the palace for a short while when the banquet was called to begin. Song Yaozhu went forward and saw Xie Liwei waiting for her at the entrance of the palace road in the distance.

She jogged up to him and asked with a smile, "Did anything fun happen just now?"

Xie Liwei stood with his hands behind his back. "Nothing interesting. But what about you? Did something interesting happen?"

Song Yaozhu then told him what had just happened, "It's boring. I thought she would make a big fuss. It would be interesting if Yuwen Wuji's birthday banquet turned into a scandal exposure of the Northern Qing royal family."

If it really comes to fruition, then Bei Qing will truly hate Yuwen Wuji to death, and Yuwen Wuji will also despise Bei Qing because of this matter.

Oh dear, it was so close, what a pity.

The two walked side by side on the palace road, with Song Wenyue watching from afar behind them, a hint of resentment in her heart.

If I hadn't chosen to marry Xie Liwei out of fear of his infamous reputation, would I be living such a carefree and unrestrained life?

She envied Song Yaozhu for being pampered and cherished by a man. Song Yaozhu's brows were full of happiness, which was really an eyesore!

But then she thought of her precognitive dream. Would Xie Liwei really rise again to become regent? If he sidelined the Yuwen family, even if she became the Empress Dowager in name only, her life wouldn't be as comfortable as Song Yaozhu's!

She gritted her teeth, truly hating Song Yaozhu, but... well, they were indeed in the same boat now.

She was no match for Song Yaozhu.

To this day, she still can't understand why that country girl, who barely knows any characters, has climbed above her so quickly and is always one step ahead of her.

"Your Majesty, it's time for us to enter the palace."

Song Wenyue snapped out of her thoughts and was ushered into the hall by the palace maids.

Behind the main hall, the place was bustling with activity. At the head of the table was the Emperor, followed by princes and dukes, and then officials of the highest rank.

Song Yaozhu and Xie Liwei were not seated near the front, but the Regent of Donglin was sitting right opposite them. The three of them looked at each other with disdain.

When the time came, firecrackers went off outside, and then dancers filed in to begin their performance.

After the dance ended, Yuwen Wuji slowly made his entrance, entering through the main gate of the hall.

As soon as he entered, everyone stood up and bowed.

"Thank you all for coming to celebrate my birthday today. Enjoy the food and drinks and have a wonderful time!"

After Yuwen Wuji finished speaking and took his seat, Li Wei clapped his hands, and the palace maids carrying the dishes entered the hall one by one and presented the dishes to everyone.

Song Yaozhu didn't even want to look at the dishes. They looked nice, but they were cold and had long lost their freshness when they were just cooked.

"This old minister wishes Your Majesty many happy returns of the day!" said the official at the front, rising to his feet with nothing but flattery on his face.

After he started, the other officials also stood up one by one to say respectful words.

Soon it was Xie Liwei's turn.